2007-2010

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Friday fluff: Amateur lexicography

Okay, I am in no way promising that this will happen soon, but it occured to me that, what with how hilarious y’all are, and how attention to The Book is getting us new readers, we might be in need of a blog lexicon for our shorthand, jokes, etc. Some of them are used all the time (baby donuts, natch), where others are more topic-specific (like Chili’s anecdotes).

It seemed like a great idea that would take too much time to execute until Resident Thin Scientist Volcanista helpfully suggested that we could farm it out to you all! Only she put it more nicely. So, Shapelings, help us out: what should go in a Shapeling Dictionary? Bonus points if you can link to the original instance of any given phrase!

I <3 the whole concept behind the phrase “being fat at someone.” That’s how I got up the courage to not smother myself in today’s sticky heat by throwing on a hoodie over the close-fitting tanktop I’m wearing, to cover mah fatz when I went to the grocery store…I said to myself, “Self, you are going to live your principles for once. Now go out and be fat at them!”

This is slightly off-topic, but I wanted to share something that a troll posted on my blog recently: “it isn’t about civil rights, it is about fat people literately clogging up our society”.

I just think that “literately clogging up our society” is a fabulous line, although of course it was unintentional. If only our society could be clogged up with literacy (by fat people, no less), what a wonderful world it would be!

I think a Shapely Prose Wiki would be brilliant. You can easily open them at Wikia. I couldn’t tell you how to make one or anything, because I suck at that sort of thing, but it’d be a nice way to organize everything from Shapely Prose Vocabulary to important entries. It would be useful for new users and long-time readers/posters alike!

I’m still reeling from the idea of paying somebody to let fish eat my feet. I do not need to think about coconut crabs, unless they are going to be served to me at Red Lobster with a little cup of melted butter on the side.

(Also, I think I said “Obesity Epidemic BOOGA BOOGA BOOGA” first, but it was someplace like the old Big Fat Blog or the Fat!So? board from like four or five years ago, and thus I can’t find it Googling. Nonetheless, I’m happy to see it gain traction.)

If we’re talking about things that we wish were in the lexicon, I can’t remember which post it was in, but I loved something Kate said once about people believing that a “normal” BMI comes with a “side of immortality.” I think so much fat-hate really comes down to a fear of mortality, so I wish the desire for a “side of immortality” was discussed more often. And that there were more occasions to use the phrase.

Just thought I’d add for the Coconut Crabs that whole list of evil baddies we started forming. Manticores and Coconut Crabs and Magalodons oh my!

As for defined terms most things came up here already that I had pondered in my first SP posts. Maybe a link to UrbanDictionary.com to look up all those chat-speak-esque things like “Natch” might be good too but that could just be the reference librarian in me getting over-eager ;)

Didn’t we have someone who was told they didn’t lose weight at a WW weigh in because they ate cough drops. For awhile there were a lot of references to eating cough drops (as a short hand for omg, fatties lie about what they eat….and everything has calories….boo!)

I second a call for baby donuts, tiny pants, FOBT, 2 Cakes, etc.

Joy Nash’s “Staircase Wit” amused me as a vocab term and could be useful.

Just a note on the wiki idea: I do not recommend Wikia. We use it for the Geek Feminism wiki (currently looking for more editors, head on over), and the ads are terrible, all about getting a lesbian hot date. I am sure an FA wiki would end up plastered in diet ads.

Joining in the coconut crab fun- my favorite has always been the vampyroteuthis infernalis (“vampire squid from hell”). My brother and I saw a display about them at the Smithsonian as kids, and for years I thought we must have made them up, because nothing could possibly be so awesome.

Yes, I believe you do get the credit for that, Meowser! I have shamelessly stolen it. Also, if the originator of the phrase “Rack of Doom” (which I got from someone on lj fats about 2.5 years ago, but fuck if I can remember who) ever wants to make yourself known, I will gladly attribute it to you.

I once had a doctor warn me that chewing too much sugar-free gum could cause me to regain weight I had lost — it had happened with another patient. Only now, with about 14 years of perspective, can I see that she really was invested in the “diets can work forever” mindset. I’m glad she wasn’t my doctor for too long. Yeah, right, it’s the sugar-free gum that causes weight regain, not, like, homeostasis.

Could this list somehow reference that post with the t-shirt? Someone posted a link to a t-shirt that had a picture of a hippo working out on a treadmill and looking at a unicorn. In the thread, everyone made up cute stories about the hippo and the unicorn. I’ll see if I can hunt that post down.

Additionally, not that I would ever try to capture one, but I’ve recently discovered in my research brought on by amusing search engine hits that coconuts crabs are edible and are considered a delicacy in their native regions.

P.S. Not that I am poking fun at naturally thin people. I mean that the term was used by a thin ally to make the point that being naturally thin doesn’t necessarily indicate some higher level of willpower or determination.

Charlotte,
Thank you so much for linking to that thread. It was like traveling back in time — ah, I remember October 2007, vaguely. That was before I had a blog of my own. That was a great thread. Good times.

I love the baby flavored donuts. I use it all the time and credit it (in science writing we say reference it) accordingly :-)
I have no understanding of coconut crabs or the bouncy castles and I have been a fan for years…